September 2020 - Parks & Recreation - 28

CONSERVATION

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FOREST PRESERVES OF COOK COUNTY

The Better Beaubien
program works
with residents and
local institutions in
communities near
the Forest Preserves
Beaubien Woods on
Chicago's South Side
to promote the site
as a local resource
and a place to get
out into nature.

Moving Forward: Making Racial Equity Real
By Raquel García-Álvarez

A

t the end of July, the Board of Commissioners of the Forest
Preserves of Cook County, Illinois, approved a position paper nearly two years in the making, Moving Towards Racial
Equity in the Forest Preserves of Cook County. Written by the
Forest Preserves' Conservation and Policy Council with staff and outside partners, the paper acknowledges that institutionalized racism has
impacted the patterns of investment in and stewardship of the preserves,
and gives specific recommendations to change its approach to benefit all
the people of Cook County, including applying a racial equity lens to all
future plans, programs, policies and investments.

The Forest Preserves of Cook
County is one of the largest and oldest urban land conservation districts
in the nation. It was founded more
than 100 years ago and holds nearly
70,000 acres in Chicago and its suburbs, one of the most biodiverse and
culturally diverse counties in Illinois
(fpdcc.com/nature/restoration).
The Forest Preserves has
worked hard to welcome everyone onto our trails, in our nature
26

Parks & Recreation

centers, at our programs, and into
our woods, prairies, wetlands and
savannahs. Yet, two summers ago,
we received a wake-up call that
said we need to do more when one
of our police officers failed to protect a young Puerto Rican woman
during a racist incident at one of
our popular preserves, Caldwell
Woods. People of color can often
feel unsafe and unwelcome in natural outdoor places (tinyurl.com/

| S E P T E M B E R 2 02 0 | PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N .O R G

y5bwxwjd), and this incident only
perpetuated that kind of unease.

Starting the Conversation
To move us forward, we began
to have tough conversations with
community leaders and staff. We
held a Cultural Awareness Forum
organized with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Chicago
Commission on Human Relations,
where staff expressed the need for
internal improvements. Alongside
community leaders, we partnered
on a new annual rally at Caldwell
Woods to celebrate diversity, hosted by the Northwest Side Coalition
Against Racism and Hate.
The Forest Preserves continues
to deepen its engagement with
Black, Indigenous and other communities of color through various
means, such as a program that fos-



September 2020 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2020 - Parks & Recreation

September 2020 - Parks & Recreation - 1
September 2020 - Parks & Recreation - 2
September 2020 - Parks & Recreation - 3
September 2020 - Parks & Recreation - 4
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2017
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2015
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2014
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2014
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2013
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2013
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2011
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2011
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2010
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2010
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2009
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